I don't know who is next in line in their country, but for the people's sake I hope they can make some progress over there.

[ED:BISB - I want to leave this up, but in order to make that possible, I'm probably gonna have to delete anything that strays into the politics surrounding it. Go nuts, and if I delete something insightful, I apologize. Kinda]

I live in Korea and the feeling here is not too tense yet... His craziest-ass son is the new center of the universe. Worries are that the military will take control b/c he's too young/weak. Having nuclear weapons pointed at my city (Ulsan) is uncomfortable, but not too bad. You certainly get used to it after many years of not getting blown up yet.

The single best thing you can watch about North Korea is this hilarious/insightful/educational documentary from a guy who snuck into North Korea:

Okay... this is a bigger deal than some guy named Ira getting promoted. Or the Lions. As far as politics, as long as crazy is not the straight ticket you toe, this doesn't really cause much of an argument.

From my understanding even Marxists have issues with the way North Korea's political system was run. Unless someone from his faction of the Worker's Party of Korea is browsing the site, I doubt we'll get a flamewar breaking out.

And it sounds like something might have been deleted...but how off topic would something have to be to be "political"? Is there a contingent in support of ass-crazy murderous to their own people foreign dictators with horrible singing voices party around here to offend? North Korean sympathizers? People who REALLY didn't like Team America?

I'm not seeing where the debate is going to come from...it'd be like a "sanctions against Ohio State are bad" crowd. And frankly, those trolls are probably given more leeway.

Even better: I was in Navy intel for a little while and got to read all about it. I'm not exactly disclosing classified info, though, when I say: yup, not very different. I wouldn't go so far as to say "carbon copy," but there's a reason he was groomed as successor and not the other two sons.

Less than you might think. Honestly, the "inside scoop" is not terribly different from the public perception. It's just faster. I've been out of the loop for a year and a half, too, so what I "know" is getting more obsolete by the day. Plus there's inside scoop and then there's inside scoop, you know?

It wouldn't surprise me in the least, though, if KJI died like a week ago and intel already knew. One never gets the impression that North Korean authorities would be totally honest about this event. No doubt all the swallows and doves in the country are shedding oceans of tears over their Dear Leader.

Agree that most classified stuff on nK is boring(at least from three years ago), but one thing that scares me is what really happens now(disclaimer:all my conjecture comes from unclassifed open source type stuff, so I'm not pulling back any veils) There's a school of thought that some of the more aggressive nK generals were being held back by KJ. If this is true, then things may get bad-interesting faster than we might like. This is a very worrisome day in my opinion.

I'm sure it would be pulled if it was a more active time for the board, but I'm okay with it being up for a bit just because of its importance to the world. Also, doesn't feel nearly that political - my guess is that most posters feel that his death, while tragic in the very basic sense when anyone dies, is probably for the overall good of his country and its people given the tyranny displayed throughout his time as the leader of North Korea. And yes, I'm sure his heir-apparent son won't be much of a change, but hopefully having a younger individual at the helm will open up more communication channels between the nation and the rest of the world.

Salivating and on the edge of your seat? The overlly political comment to blow up this post is coming--I can taste it. It's like watching a drunk guy fight a brick wall: you know he's gonna knock himself out, its just a matter of time.

I happened to have a bottle of cheap soju in my fridge that's well stocked with homemade kimchi. That soju's been in there for like 18 months; it takes something like Kim Jong-il dying to bring me to drink it.

Things will be tense for some time on the Korean peninsula. I certainly can't predict the future, but I do hope that sooner or later, South and North Korea reunite. Many families were split somewhat permanently back in 1953, when prisoners of war had to make a choice: return to North Korea over "the bridge of no return," or stay in South Korea, and never see your family again. I knew two professors personally (this is more than 20 years ago) who had not seen their home for close to 40 years (at the time.)

It is hard to say exactly what things are like, but poverty and lack of opportunity and personal freedom seems rampant in North Korea. I'd love to see that change. It was beautiful to backpack up to the top of Soraksan in South Korea. I'd love to go back someday and be able to go to the top of the tallest mountain, Baekdusan, which is on the border of North Korea and China.

Karimov jails activists, journalist (not Rosenberg), and anyone practicing religion other than Islam, with 7000 prisoners being held and tortured. Students, teachers and kids as young as 9are forced to harvest cotton living in barracks in inhumane conditions.

Al-Bashir has bombed civilians, killing untold numbers and causing 100,000 to flee. The ICC has charged him with genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Darfur, where 300,000 have been killed in the last 8 years (and embezzled billions).

Afrewerki, in the not made up Country of Eritrea has no constitution, every male at 18 must enter "national service" which is forced labor at the penalty of deat. Unsanctioned religious beliefs are cause for imprisonment and torture, as are activitists and journalists (still not Rosenberg). 50,000 refugees have fled to Ethiopia (if you're running to Ethiopia, you know you have problems), and allegedly he's aiding Al Qaeda militants.

Not to discount Assad's military bombing and firing on revolt crowds, with 3500 demonstrators (250 children) killed. It's so bad even the Arab League has placed sanctions on Syria. But hey, he not just an ophthalmologist, but an EVIL ophthalmologist.

Rounding out the top ten of "we won't be sorry when you're gone":

6. U Thein Sein, Myanmar (who's actually considered an improvement from the guy before him)

7. Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, Turkmenistan (who would be a great name Tournament guy if he wasn't such a bad one)

8. Raul Castro, Cuba (similar situation to N. Korea takeover...?)

9. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Equatorial Guinea (see #7)

10. Hugo Chavez, Venezuela (but hey, Sean Penn likes him, so he has that going for him, which is nice)

i visited North Korea last year and wrote a diary about it on here. after that experience of seeing just how important Kim Jong Il was to the fabric and (relative) political stability of that country, his death is certainly not good news. from what I have read, this is much sooner than had been anticipated, and his son has yet to gather the support of the military (and the rest of his family) to make for a smooth transition (Kim Jong Un is still in his twenties, and many generals who fought alongside Kim Il Sung are not pleased that some spoiled kid with no experience could legitimately take power). I seriously think this siutation is prime for a coup by the miltary, and it could get pretty ugly pretty fast. this is bad not only for North Korea, but for its regional neighbors as well - ROK, PRC, and Japan. I would be very nervous if I was over there - the threat of civil war (god forbid even nuclear) is certainly looming in the background. i certinaly hope this gets resolved quickly and smoothly - the sudden collapse of the North is much more dangerous than many may think.

I think you're 100% correct. Although I doubt Kim Jong Un is cut from any different cloth than Kim Jong Il, it needs to be remembered that the North Korean military is huge - especially in relation to the population - and a power struggle is very possible. KJI had a nice cozy relationship with China, which was one of the main factors keeping his regime in power and legitimizing it. It totally remains to be seen what the PRC thinks of Junior, and if they pull their support it could be awfully destabilizing. (Which is why I bet they don't.)

One thing you may see is a flood of refugees coming out of both the north and south borders of the country. If the army is perceived to not be totally in support of a new Dear Leader, people gonna book it while they can.

I have a hard time hoping for a smooth resolution because that's likely to just mean business as usual in North Korea, which isn't good. A little upheaval might be a worthwhile price to pay for reunification or at least a change in standard operating procedure. The nukes are a nasty wild card, though.

Once the soldiers stopped caring, East Berliners figured out how to get past that pesky wall pretty quick. I don't think it's at all implausible that the North Korean soldiers at the DMZ stop being interested in keeping people in, or that the South Koreans on the other side decide not to force them back.

They're literally thousands of manned watchposts all along the line, you'd have to cross about 4 miles of open land that's been heavily mined. There's a reason why defectors take the long route into china, then thailand or something before coming to seoul.

When a defector tried cross at the "peace bridge" it led to a shootout that left several people dead and more injured.

These sorts of stories only seem to hit the news when I go to bed early for once.

My only question is this - why does his son look perpetually unamused? My guess is that someone told him that the DVD of the director's cut of "Logan's Run" was scratched or something along those lines.

Kim Jong Il was, indeed, a peerlessly great man who breathed his last like a hero, totally dedicated to the people, making endless forced marches for field guidance for their happier life with iron will and superhuman energy.

(well duh) and the mood isn't very different. It's all over the news, but it wasn't the kind of thing to stop traffic or people from going about their day. It's not like when they shelled that island last spring, that had people staring at TV's everywhere, even people walking down the street would stop and watch TV's in store or restaurants that day. Today it's more laidback, no sirens or anything.